Movie review capsules, June 11
Small Enough to Jail “Hoop Dreams” director Steve James profiles the Sung family, a group of Chinese bankers in New York targeted by the government in the wake of the recent mortgage crash.
The trial itself is filled with drama, but the resourcefulness and loyalty of the family is the centerpiece.
Charged with a crime that could destroy them, their defense feels like a piece of the American dream.
Covenant The latest from Ridley Scott is an effective monster film with interesting overtones dealing with the fear of artificial intelligence.
Band Aid Zoe Lister-Jones marks herself as a genuine triple threat, writing, directing and starring in this slight but well-observed story of a husband and wife who find comfort and artistic fulfillment in writing songs that re-enact their arguments.
The Bert Berns Story Though recently inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, this 1960s songwriter and record producer remains virtually unknown.
Baywatch This adaptation of the long-running TV series about sleuthing lifeguards refashions the concept into a comedy, but the comedy is weak and there is too much emphasis on the lukewarm crime plot.
The First Epic Movie Dav Pilkey’s creation “Captain Underpants” is a very popular book series that doesn’t seamlessly translate to the big screen, and the filmmakers can’t solve this problem.
Despite moments where the writing is strong, the animated comedy is a little too dark, a little too nihilistic, a little too empty.
Churchill Brian Cox plays Winston Churchill during an atypical juncture of his life, one in which he was not just worried but wrong, anticipating disaster in the days leading up to D-Day in 1944.
The movie has too many similar scenes, and though Cox is the right age and size for Churchill, he lacks the wartime leader’s wit and lovableness — though that may be a consequence of the movie, in which he gets little chance to do anything but fret.
The Circle As chilling as any horror film and even more disturbing because the world it depicts is so close to our own, this is a dystopian vision of what could happen to human interaction if the big tech companies have their way.
Dean This comedy-drama from actor-writer-comedian-illustrator Demetri Martin is a slightly better than middling Woody Allen knockoff that never quite rises to “good.”
A young Brooklyn cartoonist (Martin) and his father (Kevin Kline) are still reeling from the death of the family matriarch and coping with romantic issues.
There are decent Allenesque situations and humor, but they are undermined by some flat jokes, a running gag that goes on too long and a tearjerker strain toward the end.
The Long Haul The fourth film based on the popular graphic novel series by Jeff Kinney is a solid effort, often rising above its barf and poop jokes.
Alicia Silverstone is excellent in the mom role, as the Heffley family of five attempts to travel across country by car without screens.
Mindless and filled with lowbrow humor, but fun.
11:55 An American serviceman returns home to find he can’t escape his violent past.
Everything, Everything A young woman (Amandla Stenberg) whose severe allergies prevent her from ever leaving the house falls in love with the boy next door, in this young adult romance based on the novel of the same name.
Like Crazy Paolo Virzi wrote and directed this Italian best picture winner, with a brilliant Valeria Bruni Tedeschi and Micaela Ramazzotti as a pair of mentally ill women who escape a sanitarium and go on a life-changing road trip.
Megan Leavey Kate Mara stars in this real-life story of a small-town good-for-nothing who joins the Marines and becomes part of the canine unit, sniffing out bombs in Iraq.
The Mummy Tom Cruise gives this movie a lift, and so do some superb early sequences and the casting of Annabelle Wallis as an Egyptologist.
Norman Richard Gere gets a strong and unusual showcase as a small-time hustler trying to crack into the big time, by putting over a deal involving American big business and the Israeli government.
Paris Can Wait Written and directed by Eleanor Coppola, this is an achingly dull and poorly acted film about the wife of a producer (Diane Lane) who goes on a seemingly endless road trip with a man who wants to seduce her.
Past Life A Holocaust drama from Israeli director Avi Nesher about two Jerusalem sisters who investigate their troubled father’s past.
The movie is based on the real-life diary of Dr. Baruch Milch, recounting his devastating World War II experiences in Poland.
Compelling and beautifully paced, from her ambivalent emotions through hip surgery to final performance.
The Story of East Bay Punk This documentary about the East Bay punk scene in the 1980s and 1990s is strictly for aficionados.
The Wedding Plan Writer-director Rama Burshtein’s Israeli drama is a twist on crowd-pleasing marriage-minded romantic comedies, with a wonderful performance by Noa Koler as a woman who is dumped a month before her wedding.
Wonder Woman This is a different kind of comic book movie, with a sense of history and purpose, featuring a star-making performance by Gal Gadot in the title role.